Should I have this project be in a foreign language in this case?

Peter C. said:
No Ryan you just like giving yourself titles to make yourself feel important. Video handyman would probably be more appropriate.

You have the knack of making everything far more difficult than it needs to be. You will film him and if the producer/director has the budget or feels the need he will have English subtitles added after the video is complete. Do you understand?
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Yeah I understand, but I do want to do my best and want it to be good. I thought it was my job, that if there was a problem, such as the language barrier for example, to point out the problem. Plus it would make my job of trying to edit the whole thing, easier, if I could understand everything he was saying in English. So I thought that subtitles would make it easier to do the job, but also easier for people to understand as well. I just want to make it the best it can be.

But I will try cutting to together with broken English first.
 
JimS2 said:
Yeah I understand, but I do want to do my best and want it to be good. I thought it was my job, that if there was a problem, such as the language barrier for example, to point out the problem. Plus it would make my job of trying to edit the whole thing, easier, if I could understand everything he was saying in English. So I thought that subtitles would make it easier to do the job, but also easier for people to understand as well. I just want to make it the best it can be.

But I will try cutting to together with broken English first.
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My general sense you're trying to do too much. Like others here have said many jobs are dictated by the client and this sounds to be the case. Concentrate on only what you've been asked to do and do it well. I'm assuming that the interview will be filmed outdoors. If this is the case, it far more challenging than you might think. As far as editing, this should be simple dialog with broll cut in. I've seen your editing when it comes to dialog, it has way to much cuts and isn't pleasant to watch. Since it sounds like he wants to be in charge of the broll there will be no need for you to understand his dialog. Either he will sit with you or you will send him the uncut video and he will tell you where he wants the broll.

This should be very simple. Be clear on what he wants and do only what he asks for. Concern yourself with only providing the best audio and video of the interview.
 
Okay thanks. I see what you mean about too many cuts in my editing, now that I have looked at it with fresher eyes. My problem is that I try to include too many sections from the performances, and I need to not do that so much.

But the client is wanting to make a lot of the decisions myself though and is giving me a lot of free rein in the editing and the shot choices, and the location choices, and he refers to me in front of the host, as the director. So I am not sure how much of it he wants me to make the decisions on.

I'm mainly doing it as a favor to him, since he helped me with my short films before.
 
Just curious, what is this person’s first language?

Are you able to speak or understand that language?
 
I had to skim back through the thread myself. Now that I've re read it. I don't entirely follow what's going on. Seems unorthodox to say the least. Is the guy who's hiring him the one being interviewed, or the one who's narrating? Seems like the narrator has a heavy accent not the person being interviewed. Sounds confusing. All of this isn't a paid gig, but rather a trade for favors... I'm absolving myself from this thread. Good luck!
 
Sorry for the confusion. The guy who hired me is seperate from the guy being interviewed, who is also narrating. The producer hired me and this project was his and the narrator's idea.

And no, I and the producer don't speak Vietnamese so the narrator would have to translate it for me and I would subtitle it, if we were to do it that way.
 
JimS2 said:
And no, I and the producer don't speak Vietnamese so the narrator would have to translate it for me and I would subtitle it, if we were to do it that way.
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So, how would you expect to conduct the interviews in Vietnamese without a translator? I mean, you could have him answer every question twice - once in English to recap what he said in Vietnamese - but that takes quite a bit of time and really interrupts the flow of the interview. Plus, how would you expect to edit the interview accurately without him sitting through the entire process?

Reading back through the thread, you have a few things going on here:

You’ve been hired by a producer who is also making directorial decisions, even though he calls you the director. Hard to know who’s really in charge of what, so you need to talk to him about your concerns.

You have a second producer who is also the subject of the documentary and who struggles a little with English as a second language. As nobody else on the project can serve as a translator, your best bet is to continue on as you are and simply add subtitles in post to aid the viewer in understanding what’s being said.

And you’ve been provided some additional footage that’s shot as vertical video. The guy who hired you expects you to use it. Again, who’s really in charge of what? Talk to him about it. And really, while vertical video is a PITA to work with, you need to figure out if the quality or relevance of that content outweigh the technical flaw. It is a documentary, after all.
 
Well he has a whole script written out of the answers to the questions, so as long as we stick to the script then I can translate all the answers myself from it. But that was just my idea. Plus I also having trouble editing the footage to what he is saying, because I do not understand about 30% of what he is saying in English, so I thought this would be better.
 
JimS2 said:
Well he has a whole script written out of the answers to the questions, so as long as we stick to the script then I can translate all the answers myself from it.
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But... HOW?! You don’t speak Vietnamese. How would you know on which Vietnamese words to make your cuts? Because he probably won’t stick to the script verbatim, and chances are that you’re going to have to make some edits.

You have a thread on another forum titled “Do I tend to overthink things in filmmaking?”... and it is now at 28 pages. There’s your answer right there.

And this is another example. You want to put yourself into an impossible situation in order to try and avoid a difficult one? Dude... keep going in English, and if you need help understanding some things in post, bring him in. Or bring in the producer, who seems to know him well, to help clarify things.
 
He started this thread 1.5 months ago and the interview hasn't been filmed, edited or produced. Still planning?
 
Sorry for the confusion. We shot the interview now, I want to do more, but I am wondering if I should redo what was shot, in Vietnamese, along with the rest now.

And yes I would have to tell him to stick to the script verbatim, for it to work. But if that's too much, I will just keep going in English then.
 
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